“Speaking from experience, it took me a while to learn from my mistakes,” Shaw said on SEN.

“It is hard for someone like me to tell Toby you need to think straight in the heat of the moment.

“For me, that’s the biggest battle I’ve had in my career. I just want to win at all costs and sometimes I do lose control. The older I’ve got, the better I’ve got, but there are times I tip over.

“I’ll give Toby a little bit of advice about how I’ve tried to manage that, but you don’t want to take that edge away from him.

“When he is in the zone, he is one of the hardest players to play against in the AFL.”

Toby Greene. Photo: AAP Image/Julian SmithSource: AAP

Greene has worked with a sports psychologist this year to help cool his demeanour, with the small forward saying he’d never forgive himself if he were to miss a final through suspension.

He was suspended for two matches earlier in the season for striking Western Bulldogs player Caleb Daniel, and was also cited for headbutting in a separate incident.

In total, Greene has been cited 12 times, which is the equal seventh most on record — and this is despite playing just 111 matches.

Co-captain Phil Davis told Fox Footy’s On The Couch he wanted Greene to continue playing his natural game, fearing Greene would otherwise “play within his shell”.

Shaw also encouraged Greene to play to the edge.

“The way Toby is, the way he goes about things and the person he is, we don’t want to change a thing,” Shaw said.

“Toby is really disappointed and I think the main thing is he loves playing footy. He is a competitive beast and on the back of our performance, and his performance, against Richmond on the weekend, and losing that game, the one thing you can do is look forward to next week to rectify it.

“He has put himself in a position where he has two more weeks to think about it.

“You can do as much training during the week as possible but performance on the weekend is what counts. Toby can’t do that this weekend, so he is really disappointed not to be out there.”

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